Learning from the Prince

Abstract

The Prince (Italian: Il Principe) is a political treatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. From correspondence a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (About Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death.

The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics. The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes—such as glory and survival—can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.

The Prince is one of the best known for political philosophy and has suffered numerous critics because the content contains various types of unethical-like means recommended to the political leader in order to maintain his power. However, modern business and management researchers also found that the book has many ideas relevant for leaders of business organizations today. It is commonly agreed that some of Machiavelli’s suggestions for a prince in this book are very valuable for modern business leaders in order to build up an effective and efficient organization. Drawing a connection between Machiavelli’s states and modern corporations is not difficult. A corporation has its king and its barons, its courtiers and ambassadors, its loyalists and its dissident elements, its allies and its enemies.

The prince is so intriguing. History affords us lessons that merit attention. We may gain a great deal of enlightenment from it.

Brief Contents

Part One---Introduction of Machiavelli 4

Part Two---Introduction of the Prince 7

Summary 7

(chapters 1 and 2) The subject...